As the students in Taizhou listened to their friend's soundscapes their ideas started to grow. Here you can see how each mind map is unique and how we all interpret sounds, images, and emotions in different ways. Loving the translation process in these artworks!

Teachers Miss Wu Juehua and Lisa did an amazing job encouraging their students to be as creative, open, and experimental as they can be. Thank you!

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

More beautiful artworks have arrived from the other side of the world to partake in Shenzhen Senior High School art exhibition, "Sharing Nature". Here, we can see photographs from artists living in Finland and in Australia.

Susie say, "I live in Sydney where there is lots of parks and wildlife. There are lots of national parks. My family usually go to the Royal National Park. The Royal National Park has lots of different hikes and beautiful sights. My dad and I even saw a wild kangaroo with a joeg in it's pouch! This one of the reasons why I love Australia."

Wow! This world really is gorgeous! Let's keep it that way, by taking care of it.

I attended a printmaking workshop at Museum of Impossible Forms to make Dear You linoleum prints for InSEA conference in Helsinki. I will be happy to give you one when we meet!

The International Society for Education Through Art (InSEA) is a non-governmental organization and official partner of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNESCO). http://www.insea.org/

Continuing with their mission for "Advocacy, networking and the advancement of research and praxis in art education." this year's European regional InSEA Congress will be held from June 18.-21. 2018 at Aalto University Otaniemi Campus in Finland.

Dear You is honored to be holding a brainstorming session at this great event on June 20th at 11.30am. Welcome!

Kanelit (Cinnamons) and The Monkeys got together at Museum of Impossible Forms in Kontula, Helsinki to make art!

It is amazing that the Monkeys from Your School in Olari, Espoo and Kanelit from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Kontula, Helsinki got to meet in person after months of making and sharing art from a distance!! What an exciting morning we had at Museum of Impossible Forms!

We first got into small groups of mixed artists from the two schools to listen to the sound art we had made for the previous art project. This way they could meet and get to know each other by physically making art with each other! Everybody was so open and kind with each other.

The first part of this session's artistic process was listening to each other describe what they saw in the environment. This brought immediate smiles to their faces as they heard their own voices and their friends' on the loud speakers. The Cinnamon group made these recordings and The Monkeys made these. As they listened to the recordings they could draw what they heard. They could be more abstract or more literal with their drawings. For example, some chose to draw the soundwaves of children laughing in the background and some drew snow and sun as they were mentioned in the recordings. The artists were free to go in any direction they wish, but the awareness of connecting sound to thought to visual output was discussed.

After some time of collective drawing, the possibility to collage and build with maps was introduced. Maps were chosen for their symbolic purpose as our artists live in different locations, but have come together to meet and create. Simple 2D maps turned into 3D bridges, people, and tunnels. I was so impressed with everybody's creativity! Masterminds at work!

We closed the day by taking a long caterpillar walk to look at the artworks and made a circle where the artists could reflect on the morning and their experience. It seemed that everybody really enjoyed meeting their friends and making collages together. In the closing circle, they realized that they had more in common than their love for making art! The topic of languages came up and they discovered that their friends from the other school could speak Somali, Russian, Albanian, Finnish, and English! What an amazing bunch of young artists and teachers that encourage their creativity and help grow their confidence!

The Monkeys stayed at MIF to eat their lunch before hopping on the metro to head back to Espoo. Marianne Niemelä, one of the artistic directors of MIF, came up with the great idea to make wristbands! Naturally, these were a huge hit with the kids and now they all want to come back to make more! Thank you, Marianne!

Thank YOU and Dear You wishes you all and happy happy summer! Hyvää kesää!

With love,Arlene

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Shenzhen is at the southern tip of China and Finland is part of Northern Europe. Geographical differences directly affect people's perception of the environment. Through the display of animals and plants in the natural environment in different parts of the earth, students can pay attention to nature, understand nature, and protect nature. Different forms of art expressions, such as photography and painting, directly and indirectly express the interaction between the natural environment and the children.

油画来自澳大利亚，JeremyOil painting from Australia, Jeremy

I live in Queensland, Australia, which also known as Sunshine State, there we have plenty of sunshine and blue sky. Although we travel to different places every time. There is a kind of scenery that we must see, that is the sea. In the golden sunlight, my brother and I will build castles on the beach, and we race with the parents in the sea, or holding a surfboard in the sea and letting the waves push me in the water. I like the blue sea. For me the color of the sea represents the color of Australia.

Pippurit, Mantelit, and Tigers have been making art and sending it to each other since January 2018. Pippurit and Mantelit are from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Kontula, Helsinki and the Tigers are from Your School in Olari, Espoo. After months of getting to know each other, themselves, and their surroundings, they got to meet to have a morning of making art together!

At first, everybody was a bit confused about the other group. Once we got inside and we heard Project 3 from the Pippurit and Mantelit and from the Tigers, everything started to come together. "Oh! That's my voice!" "I remember that!" "It was winter!".

We listened to the sound recordings we had made in March. As we listened, we could draw what we heard. After a while we introduced the possibility to collage using road maps of Finland.

One of the great things about this session was how listening to these recordings triggered many memories and ideas that we could then play off of each other in our small groups. For example, one of the groups started to think of boiled eggs as one of the recordings involved a bird. One artist drew snowflakes because at the time of the recording there was snow on the ground. Now it's spring time and everything is in bloom!

At the end of the session we had a mini-exhibition where everybody could display their artworks and tell about what they drew. Each small group was a mixture of the Pippurit, Mantelit, and Tigers. Everybody was so kind and welcoming to their new friends!

Thank you, Museum of Impossible Forms for hosting Dear You!

Have a great summer everybody!

With love,Arlene

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

During the third project students were asked to listen to audio recordings from their friends in China. They were instructed to draw or write anything they heard that sounded like a word that was familiar to them. They could use Swedish, Finnish, and English words for the listening exercise. As we listened students, wrote words that they heard or that came to mind and drew pictures to accompany the words. When the listening exercises was over the students used mixed methods of collage and coloring to complete their images. Using bits cut from maps they created lines connecting their images to one another. They really enjoyed listening to what their friends had to say. Thanks so much to our friends in China! We really enjoyed collaborating with you on this project!

Sincerely,Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Open call for artworks depicting your local environment! Your art will be part of Shenzhen Senior High School’s ‘Science and Nature Art Exhibition’ from May 25th to June 11th!

What kind of nature surrounds you? What season is it where you live? Was it the same kind of weather this time last year?

Share with your friends in Shenzhen, China what your local environment looks like. You can choose which medium you would like use. For example, you could use photography, painting, drawing or collage. Use a viewfinder to create your beautiful picture!

If you wish, you can write the artist’s name on the artwork, title of the work, date, and include anything else they would like to share about their art and chosen environment.

NOTE: By submitting your student’s artwork to Shenzhen Senior High School’s Science and Nature Art Exhibition, you give permission for the school and Dear You to use the photos online and in the school’s public space.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing different views of our beautiful world!

The Cinnamon group was making audio recordings of what they found around the daycare's yard and nearby surroundings. Around the grounds of the daycare were a climbing frame and an outdoor cabin to play. Nearby was the daycare's forest where there was a log house and a barbecue area with tables and benches. In addition, the point of our search was to find environmental art statues in which we could find the upper and lower parts of animals, which in the end, make a whole. The pre-schoolers liked to share their own stories and record them. They freely told about their discoveries or then they were given some questions to help guide their explorations. Some questions were "What is this?" "What can this do?"

The Cinnamons

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

The children in our class enjoy sharing things with me very much. This is no exception, the school take three days off for the Chinese traditional Qingming festival (清明节). Qingming festival, it is spring back to the earth, people sweep the tomb, a young and old in the middle reaches of the nature, home conveniently fold a few branches and leaves bud of willow branches on his head, happy.

Also, some people specially during the Qingming festival to nature to enjoy and appreciate the vibrant spring scenery, watching the spring scenery. We Taizhou area in many places and dragon boat racing, dragon dance and other traditional activities, so most of the children choose and their parents to visit, observe all kinds of activities.

After returning from the holiday, many students shared their photos with the class. We sat together and talked to each other about the fun of the holiday and the beauty we enjoyed. Then find a quiet environment to record your feelings, easy to share with you.

Sincerely,Miss Wu Juehua

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Our third Dear You project took place during the week leading up to Easter vacation. The students were asked to create a Easter eggs and while working they discussed their activities and what their environment looked like.

The first group was a bit shy but we discussed what we were going to say and even rehearsed saying it a few times before we created our recordings. The second group of students were very excited to describe their environment and discuss their families Easter traditions.

Sincerely,Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

In a small classroom in Finland students stop, take a moment, and visually explore photos of kids attending school in China. They see, if only for a few moments the visual characteristics and features of the child in the photograph. Using tracing paper the students traced the figures out of the photographs and onto a piece of paper. They added color to the students along with their own artistic touches. Throughout the process the students were encouraged to look closely at the photographs and asked; What did they see? Who is in the picture? What can you learn about them, what is the image telling you? Once the drawing were completed I transcribed short letters from each artist to the child in the photograph. They explained short things about themselves such as their favorite foods and hobbies.

Now they eagerly await for the exchanging of artworks.

Sincerely,Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Words have an amazing way of painting pictures in our minds! The Monkeys have created sound pieces that will hopefully tell their friends in Kontula about where they are in Olari. We started by exploring the environment and then as we were recording tried to catch as many details as we could to communicate them to our friends.

Kanelit, you can draw a picture based on our recordings! Also, do you hear what is happening in the background? The more you listen the more your visions grow.

Thank you for making art with us!

Sincerely,Arlene, Sanna, Ben, and The Monkeys

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

Winter is an exciting time: at times it is really cold, so cold that we cannot go outside and then at times comes thawing of ice. When it is freezing, while walking there is crunching sounds and the sun shines.

After the thawing ice and water were found. We created snow and we broke the ice. Under the ice treasure was revealed: water!

We cannot drink this water. We have water for food and mineral water. How do the waters differ?

Sincerely,Pippurit, Mantelit, Teija and Satu

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

The creation has sought the views of the children. They thought that their own photos can be printed out and then they were able to discuss their appearance characteristics. They also could talk about their good characters, talented things even favourite clothes, habitual actions, preferred colors and so on.

There are two kinds of creation, one is to draw themselves, the other is to draw among each other.

Some children believed it can be realistic. They stuck photos on the window and keep papers above them to describe in detail. Some children could also exaggerate some features of their own such as a round face more round, big eyes bigger, even can express themselves with decorative techniques besides expressing some features they don’t have but want to own. For example, short hair girl painted her wanted long hair, lively become calm. In the process of painting, they devoted themselves to draw a variety of styles of themselves.

King regards,Teacher Lisa and Miss Wu Juehua

The artists in Grade 3 (9-10 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-9 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

As the Tigers are telling what they see so many memories and feelings come up. Listen to their sound piece and you will be happily surprised!

They realized that there are so many different ways we can describe snow! How do we describe air and sound? This was challenging at first, but they did a great job trying to express their observations through words in Finnish and in English.

Sincerely,Arlene, Floriin, Anna-Maria, and the Tigers

The 5 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

The Cinnamon preschoolers excitedly and with great concentration made their first project from which The Monkeys sent their woks. From those artworks we traced and colored in the picture to make our own artworks. We used baking paper to trace by putting the baking paper on top of the picture. We put the picture and the baking paper against the window so that we could see the outlines we would draw and color. We used colored pencils and crayons. We did everything in one morning. Here are the pictures of the process. All the Cinnamons send many warm hellos to the Monkey kids and adults. We look forward to the next artworks.

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

To start the Dear You project the students and I sat down around a table and reviewed the photos sent to us from our new friends in China. With each picture we took time to visually explore what was taking place. Was it a boy or girl? How old did they appear? Where was the photo taken? We explored what sort of information could we gather from elements presented to us in the photo?

Following this activity we completed an journaling exercise where the students described things about themselves that they felt were important to share with their new friends. Then we completed the session by taking our self portraits.

Alexandra said: I like candy. I like to dance. My favorite food is pea soup.I am Amos. I like school. I play my PS4. I have a big brother. I like pizza. I like candy.I am Ebba. I like English club. I play football. I have a mom.Felix said: I am 8 years old. I like candy. I play Minecraft.Lucus said: I am short. I like my friend Benjamin. I play football. I have a little sister.I am Maxim. I like Samuel &amp; Benjamin. I do Ty-boxing. I have a dog.Oskar said: I like playing my phone. I like candy. I am 7 years old. I play the guitar.Sophia said: I also like to laugh. I like to play pretend mommy and daddy. I like my mom. My favorite food is spaghetti and I love bread. I like hotdogs and I like friends.

Thank you!

Sincerely,Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

When we returned to the daycare from the ski holiday, we had a wonderful package waiting for us: we received a package. The envelope had many amazing drawings, which came from our own jokes and interests. Thanks to the Tigers!

This week we have been painting and coloring pictures of the Tigers. It was not that easy, but we managed to make the artworks. You will receive mail soon!

Kindly,Pippurit (gingerbreads) and Mantelit (almonds)

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Make & Share

Dear You is about making friends around the world through creating and sharing art.

All Dear You participating schools are organized to have a Dear You friend in another country. For example, a class of six year olds in Greenland will be paired with a class of six year olds in Finland. School teachers or hired Dear You workshop leaders living in these countries will go to the schools in their respective location and hold workshops for the children in the school once a month. During these workshops the children will create their art projects, which will then be mailed to their Dear You friends abroad. Using Ipevo learning tools, Dear You also has a digital dimension where we meet each other and talk about our artwork online. Dear You focuses on the process of art practice, opening dialogue, and discovering our surroundings! Feel free to contact us to find you how you and your young artists can get involved by emailing arlene.dearyou(at)gmail.com.